WHY I TOOK A PAY CUT TO CHANGE CAREERS

| MONEY OR JOB SATISFACTION?

After I graduated uni in 2008 (fuck, that’s 6 yrs ago now!), I was working at a bank within Credit Card Fraud

Initially I was just going to stay there for a few months, whilst I looked for another job that was actually related to my degree (I studied Managament & Marketing of Textiles), but I actually ended up staying there for about a year and a half

Probably down to two reasons:

That was the year of the recession. There were no jobs because no one was hiring.

I got used to the money, and I loved knowing that I was getting a decent amount of money at the end of every month to spend on what ever I wanted

| BUT IT WASN’T ENOUGH

Although the money was great, and the job was pretty easy, I started to miss being challenged everyday.

I went from writing reports, doing presentations and reading journal articles everyday at uni – to doing the same tasks over and over again at this bank job.

Don’t get me wrong, the bank job had its stressful moments (I’ve had cases were I’ll be dealing with people who have just lost thousand and thousands of pounds from credit card fraud, and they’ll be crying at the end of the phone to me for 20mins – nightmare!) – but for the most part it was very very repetitive.

I felt like I was losing my creativity, and I knew I had more to give, so I had to change careers

I also realised very early on that I didn’t want to progress at the bank, because I didn’t want to do the job my managers were doing. I never once looked at them and thought, ‘one day I want to do what you’re doing’ – so that was a obvious sign that job wasn’t for me

So by mid 2009, we were starting to recover from the recession, so I started applying for any fashion related jobs, and from what I can remember – it was still so hard to get even a reply back

But finally, I got offered a job within the Buying & Merchandising dept for a small Home Retailer. And for anyone trying to get into Fashion, you’ll know Buying & Merchandising jobs are SO competitive to get into

Because the company wasn’t that big, the salary they offered was £4k less than what I was currently on…!

| SHOULD I CHANGE CAREERS? THE DILEMMA

So, here was my dilemma

I could either stay at the bank and keep applying for jobs, and hold out for something better

Or, I could take this job offer, learn everything I needed to learn, and then move companies once I had a years experience on my CV – and that’s exactly what I did

| IT’LL ONLY BE FOR A YEAR

I did have friends and family who couldn’t understand why I would take such a massive drop in my salary, but I said to them:

Every fashion company has a Buying & Merchandising dept, so if I needed to move it shouldn’t be too hard

Within a year, I’ll be back earning the same amount I was at the bank, but with even more room for progression and even more opportunities for pay rises. I just had to bear it for a year

I’ll be working in a industry that actually relates to my degree

Buying & Merchandising is alot more fast paced, and it was something new that I wanted to learn

And most importantly, I wanted to do something that I knew I would enjoyed. I wanted to work somewhere, where I could really make a difference, and work with like minded people

I didn’t want to waste years of my life before I make a change. I’m going to do it now whilst I’ve only just started on this career ladder

And again, it will only be for a year

| I DIDN’T STAY FOR TOO LONG

After a year at the Home company, I did actually move jobs again – this time to the Buying & Merchandising dept at Matalan – where I got offered more money and more exposure to a bigger dept with bigger budgets – so it was definitely the right decision!

I can’t really remember how I managed that year where I had to cut back on alot of things, because I was still renting and living in the city of Manchester – I guess I still had that frugal student mentality!

And if you’ve read my previous post, where I talked about WHAT MY REAL JOB IS, you’ll know that I didn’t stay in Buying & Merchandising for too long either.

I moved again.

And again, I moved into a completely new industry all because of this blog actually (This time I didn’t take a pay cut! By this point I knew my worth, and I was able to negotiate a salary based on my transferrable skills and what I could bring to the team. I’ll probably do a separate post on this, as it’s something I feel really strongly about – and something I always have to remind my myself and my friends – to know your worth, and how not to get taken advantage of!) x